Improvement in wind-wheels



UNITED STATES.

PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT L. SMITH, OF STOOKPORT, NEW YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN WIND-WHEELS.

, Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 45,5 30, dated December 20, 1864.

.To all whom/t may concern,.- Be it known that I, ROBERT L. SMifrH, o Stockport, in the county of Columbia and .State of NewYork, have invented a new and useful. Improvement in Mechanism forfObtaining Power from Wind; and I do hereby declare that the followingis a full, clear, and

exact description thereof, which will enable those skilled in the art to make and use the same, freference.being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, infwhich- Figure l, Sheet No. 1, is a vertical section of my invention taken in the line .fr fr, Fig. 2'; Fig. 2, Sheet N o. A2, a vertical section of the same taken inthe line y y, Fig. l 5 Fig. 3, a vertical section of a portion of the same taken n the line z z, Fig.v2"; Fig. 4, a vertical section-of a portion'of the same' taken in the line "2' z', Fig. 2. y Milf-#Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parte.l vTheobject of this invention is to obtain a '.cheap, safe, and reliablel mechanism. for obtaining power from the wind, designed `more .especially for driving light machinery for household or domestic purposessuch as churns, washing-machines, grindstones, wood` sawing machine, &c. v'

The invention consists in combining with a wind-wheel of novel construction a mechanisml provided with a weight, all being ar` ranged in such a manner that the wind-Wheel when in operation may raise tlieweight and render the mechanism aforesaid available as a motor, which may be used when there is no wind, and the Wind-wheel consequently inoperative. Y

A, represents ia wind-wheel placed on the top of a building, B, and provided wit-h Wings or sails, a, attached to rods b, which pass through bearin gs c, attached to the wind-wheel shaft O, and have their inner /ends fitted in a head, d, on said shaft, the .rods b being allowed t) turn freely in their bearings. Each rod b, nea-r its end, has a bevel-toothed segment, e, upon it, and these segments gear into a bevelwheel, f, placed loosely on shaftO, and having attached to it a pinion, g, which gears into racks 71, h, placed at opposite sides of it, said racks having balls t' at their ends, one on each, and spiral springs j on them,the springs being placed between pins k in the outer ends of the racks and the frame D, to which the .bearings care attached. 'lhese springs j have a tendency to keep the racks It It and their balls drawn inward to their fullest extent and to keep the wings or sails a at a proper oblique position relatively with the wind, so as to get the most effective force or power from the latter. The wind-wheel shaft O has its bearings in a frame, E, which is' provided with a pendent tube, k, to serve as a pivot, said tube being fitted loosely in a stationary tube, Z, on the building B.' The frame E is provided with a vane, F, toV keep the Wheel A to the wind. The wind-wheel shaft C is formed with a crank, G, to which a wire,m, is attached, said wire passing down through the tubes k l and attached at its lower end to a beller-ank, n, `the latter being connected by awire or rod, -o, with another bell-crank, p, which is connected by a wire, q,with a bent lever, H, the latter being connected at one end to a spring, I,and

...the opposite end having apawl, J, attached to it by'a pivot, r.

The. wind-wheel is selfregulating, the racks li h, with the balls i t', and springs j, forming a governor, which is yconnected with the Wings-or sails a through A the medium of the gearing f g and segments e.

The sp1-in gsj, as before stated, have a tendency tokeep the racks h It and balls i drawn inward, and the wings or sails presented with their greatest area to the wind-that is to say, with the greatest area for obtaining power,lthe position being an oblique one, and in case ot' the wheel revolving too rapidly the balls t' t and racks h h will be movedv outward under centrifugal force, and the sails presented move obliquely to the wind. By this means the wheel may be made to rotate with a constant speed under different degrees of velocity of the wind. The'advantage of this arrangement over.others for `the sameV purpose consists in the fact that the governor is applied directly to the Wheel, is simple in its construction, and is more sensitive, as much friction is obviated. t To the wheel g there is attached acireular disk, s, and in the frame E, which supports said shaft, there is a lever, K, one end of which has a spring, t, bearing againstit, said spring having a tendency to keep the opposite end of the lever free from the disk s. This lever K serves as a brake to stop the wind-wheel, and it has a wire, u, attached to it, which extends ldown `within the building for the purpose of operating it. When the wire u is pulled and the lever brought in contact with the disk s,

the speed ofthe wheel is suddenly checked, l I, andthe pawl J which is pivotcd to -lever and theV balls i Ai are instantly thrown out, owing to their inertia, and-the wings or sails are presented edgewise to the Wind andthe ,wheel stopped.

--The above-described parts comprise all pertaining to the wind-wheel. I will now proceed to describe the other mechanism which is con nected With itand is within the building B.

L is a framing constructed in any proper 1nanner,'and`having a shaftgc, on its upper part, from Which two blades, w fw, project at oppo-` site points to form a ily or regulator. On one end of this shaft v there is'a'co'ne of pulleys, M,

I and on the opposite endthere is keyeda Wheel, a.

-N is a bar, which is secured to the framing L jnst below the Wheel a by a pivot, t', and when shoved upward presses or bears against the WheelV a', to form a. brake to stop the revolution of the shaft c.

by acord, cf, from a large cone 'of pulleys, d on ashaft, e', in the lower part ofthe framing L,

'said shaft having a pinion, j', upon it whichv gears into a wheel,` g', on a shaft,- h, the latter.

also having a'pinion, t', upon it, into which a wheel, j', gears, the latter being keye'don a shaft, k, on which a drum, O, is placed loosely, said drum having a rope, P, upon it, which extends over pulleys i in the upper part of the building and'under a pulley, m,'which has a weight, Q, attached to it, the end of rope P 'being securedto the ripper part of the building; (See Fig. 1). On the shaft k there is also placed loosely `a ratchet-wheel, R, having 'a bevel-wheel, a', and a small ratchet, nx, at one side of it, and a pinion, o', at the opposite side.'

and there are' secured or keyed on the shaft k a, pinion, p', and a disk, gl, the latter having apawl, i", attached to itwhichzengages with the j S is a bar, which is secured in the building v B by a pivot,fv.

This bar -S has nearly a horizontal position, and it extends over the topof the lever R, and yis provided with a notch, w', to receive-the topof said ylever when brought in line with said notch. v(See Fig., 1.) The lower en d'of the lever R ispro -yideduwith a 'curved rod, w', which projects within-the path of -the movement of weight Q. To one side of thedruln 0 there are at- .tached,` at two opposite points, two pinions; a* ax, having attached to them wheels, 'bX b,

the latter gearing into the pinion o of the ratchet 1t and the formergearing into the pinionp.' '(See Fig. 4.)

4, The operation is as follows: Aas-the .-wind- Wheel A rotates, the leverH kis operated v`.tjhii'ongh the medium of the Wire or rod m.,

bell-cranks' n p, and .Wire or rod q, and spring This shaft n isdriven`v rotating, the" pawls r', which H, actuatesthe 'ratchet R. It theshat't n be stopped or prevented from rotating, by adjusting the Abar or brake N tothe wheel c', the shaft will be prevented fromrotating', owing to the friction of the rope c', 'and the drum O will be rotated through the medium of the gearing o b ,-the rope P Wound upon lthe drum O, and the Weight Q raised. rEhe weight Q will be elevatedv until it strikes the bar S,y the latterbeing raised thereby and the lever R released so that the spring-.al will throw back its upper end and cause the pawl JV to be raised free fron the ratchet R, and the connection between the wind-wheel and the weight mechanism thereby cut ott'. Power may be taken from the weight, by releasing the shaft@ from the bar or brake N..

The power is taken from theccne-pulley d by means of a. properV rope.. The weight Q asv it` descends comes. in contact with the curved rod vat the lower end of lever R and throws the upper .endof said lever in the notch in of bar S, so as to allow the pawl .l to engage 'with ratchet R and admit of the windwheel again raising-the weight when necessary. The shaft u maybe driven direct by the wind-wheel. In the latter case the shaftk isrotated lthrough the medium of thepawl J, ratchet R, and gearing o I1X a* p'.

When the shaft 'c is rotated'froxn the Weight,

the drum O rotatessha't k' through lthe ine .dialup of the gearing a"A at p", which form a positive connection between O and-'k-xvithout gear'in'to the ratchet "n", preventing abackxvafrd ln i'ov'ement of the shaft k. e

- I claiinas new and desireto 'secure by Let-A ters Patent- 1.The combinationf'of a wind-wheel and power-retaining mechanism provided with aweight, and all 'arranged substantially as` herein shown andldescribed, so Kthat the wind-wheel, when unemployed, willraise the weightand accumulate power, which in ay be employedduring the absence of wind or when the Wind-wheel is inoperative. f 2. The arrangement ot' the gearinga a* bX b* p o', drum O, and the ratchets R nx,-

withthe paivls r' r" and J,` for the purpose of operating the Weight'or power retaining mechanism from the wind-wheel, as 's'et forth.

3. The lever 1t, in connection with the 'notched bar S, arranged in connection with the Weight ,Q and cord s', for automaticallycut'tingoi the connection between the Windlwheeland the Weightmxnechanisni, as set forth. 4. The `Windwhee. .l governor-A composed of the racks h h, springs j, and balls iz', and'` connected with the wings or vsails w through the medium ot' the gearing gf, and segments e, all arranged substantially as herein shown and described.

\ RO BER'L. SMITH; Witnesses:

VViLLrAM R. BENNETT, G. VAN VALKENBURGH.. 

